Ben Zajac bzajac@bcps.org


Bio
I was born and raised in Slippery Rock, PA. I graduated from Slippery University with an elementary degree. After graduating, I moved to southern Maryland and taught 7th grade math. After one year of teaching there my beautiful wife and I then moved to Baltimore County, where I currently teach 8th grade. My wife and I are currently expecting our second child, so I'm sure to be more tired in the future. Go
Steelers!
Ben_Steelers.jpg

Links to Mobile Apps:



Possible Web 2.0 Tools for Project:
Geogebra
Poll Everywhere
Blogger
Facebook
Class Dojo



Work from Class 1:
Web 2.0 is a set of next-generation Internet technologies. It allows each individual user control over manipulating and interacting with the technology. Web 2.0 limits the need for software allowing this new form of media to be virtually free. While being free, it also allows users to access this technology from anywhere. A group of individuals can be working on a document simultaneously, while a computer somewhere else keeps track of the changes and when the occurred.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-is-web-20/
http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html

Edutopia Quiz Link

Discovery Quiz

"How I might use a wiki page in my class"
I would use a wiki page in my class to get information to my parents that my students do not get to them. Parents are always asking for resources with our curriculum, and I can post the resources on the page for others to see.

"Today's Meet" Lesson Plan

I would create 4-6 different “Today’s Meet” rooms (depending on class sizes)
- Each room would be assigned a different word problem.
- Students would be in groups, but discussing the question over the live chat room.
  • Similar to what we did in class as well.
- I also would like the students to check out the previous posts in order to see if those students completed it correctly as well. If not, I would like to discuss what was wrong and see if they could fix it.
- They must state the solution in the room as well.
I could then extend the lesson and show certain parts of the transcripts to students and create a BCR out of them. I could cut out a section and ask if this is correctly thinking, or was there a mistake made and how would you fix it?
I did not get a chance to try this activity in my class this week, but it is definitely something I would like to.

Work from Class 2:
Word Cloud

Ben_Word_Cloud.PNG

SMP Activity

Partner Activity

Journal Prompts

http://myteacherpages.com/webpages/jgriffin/journal.cfm
http://math.about.com/library/weekly/aa123001a.htm
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/studentsuccess/lms/files/journalwriting.pdf

Word Cloud Ideas in the Classroom

- Put vocabulary words or use as a word wall.
- Create word clouds using geometric shapes with vocabulary words to fit in those shapes. Since Wordle cannot do this you will need to use Tagul or Tagxedo.
- Create word clouds that display fractions. Example: A word cloud with three different insects, two mammals, four fish, and five birds. Ask for fractions of each animal type.
- Create a word cloud of standards to be used in the course.
- Show units of measurement in a word cloud. Try to scale it by proportion… to some extent where possible. Put each type of measurement such as volume, linear, mass in its own color. Be creative and use both the advanced number and color tool.

Kidblog Website

http://kidblog.org/MrZajac/wp-admin/index.php


Work from Class 3:

Polynomial Functions Glogster



Work from Class 4:
UDL Summary

UDL Reflection

Work from Class 5:
Class Google Form
Google Form

Google document used in my class

Work from Class 6:
Lesson plans involving videos

Lesson Plan Briefs

Lessons from LearnZillion
http://learnzillion.com/lessons/3231-determine-whether-a-set-of-points-plotted-on-a-graph-is-a-function

Pythagorean Theorem
http://learnzillion.com/lessons/1309-find-the-length-of-a-line-segment-on-the-coordinate-plane-using-the-pythagorean-theorem

Lessons from KhanAcademy
https://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra2/conics_precalc/ellipses-precalc/v/conic-sections--intro-to-ellipses

Pros and Cons
LearnZillion is much more interactive and provides the viewer with more visuals. It helps keep the viewers attention with more stimulation.
Khan Academy provides step by step instructions on how to complete various topics. If a student struggled to pay attention in class, this would provide the student with much needed guidance.
Overall, both videos are great for students to go back and practice. The best thing I like about them is that you can pause and rewind if necessary.

Work from Class 7:
Text to Mind - Conic Sections
Popplet - Conic Sections
Padlet - Sorting Game

Work from Class 8:
Educreations

Work for Class 9:
Solving Equations - Test Moz

Project:
Class Dojo